LANshack Ask the Expert - Shielded Cable

Grounding Shielded Cabling Systems

Answer: All buildings are required by the National Electrical Code to have only one "Grounding Electrode Syatem" and therefore theoretically every electrical outlet's ground should have the same potential. However, due to many different factors that effect electrical power, a robust path for equlization of potentials of the grounding electrode system is required to allow the data to transmit over the shielded cable reliably. So in a building, the purest form of a ground connection is building steel. By connecting all horizontal cables to the same robust source of ground at the frame insures that all grounds will be equalized and that any potental stray currents will be routed to ground. This practice will insure the best performance of your Shielded Cabling System.